Emmanuel Haget - Cabernet Franc, Pineu d'Aunis - Loire Valley, FR - 2023

Satellite's Hot Take

This wine is called Loustic. It’s made from Pineau d’Aunis and Cabernet Franc. It’s light-bodied and yet incredibly intense and delightful. You get green, stemmy notes that are reminiscent of some of my favorite wines from the Loire Valley. In fact, many of my favorite wines from the Loire Valley.

This vintage is 70% Cabernet Franc and 30% Pineau d’Aunis, which makes it quite a delight in that it has the presence and power of Cabernet Franc with its clear edges, and yet the Pineau d’Aunis really softens and rounds out, bringing a little strawberry kiss to the wine. The wine is also quite mineral and a real lip-smacker.

The feeling I get from it is sort of like the kid doing a cartwheel on the front label.

Notes from the Winery/Importer

• Region: Loire
• Appellation: Vin de France
• Color: Red
• Grapes: 70% Cabernet Franc, 30% Pineau d’Aunis
• Soil/ Terroir: The Pineau d’aunis is from Manu’s Clos Saint Jacques vineyard in Saumur Puy-
Notre-Dame. This parcel contains the vineyard’s oldest vines. Soils are a combination of
sandy-clay silt and alterite of green chalk. Cabernet Franc is from the lieu dit Les Vigneux.
• Average Vine Age: 50 years
• Farming Practices: Biodynamic
• Vinification: Pineau d’Aunis: all hand-destemmed, 5-day maceration, Cabernet Franc: all
whole-cluster, 12-day maceration. Parcels are then blended and racked into tank.
• Aging: Aged in vats for 6 months.
• Fining/Filtration: none
• SO2: 10mg/l
• Alc/Vol: 12.5%
• Number of bottles produced: 7000

Notes on the Producer

Emmanuel Haget spent 20 years as a geophysicist before he came to winemaking. Motivated by a strong desire to leave the temptations and fast pace of modern life for a more deliberate, humble life surrounded by nature, he found his way to a little-known area known as Le Puy-Notre-Dame, which is situated around 20 minutes south of Saumur in the middle Loire Valley.
Passionate about ecology and sustainable farming, Manu had the good fortune of meeting Philippe Gourdon, one of the leaders in biodynamic viticulture in the region shortly after he arrived. As Gourdon neared retirement age, he agreed to sell his vines and cellar to Manu in late 2016. Beginning with the 2017 vintage, Manu has continued the tradition of the domaine, maintaining the biodynamic practices in the existing parcels, and converting new parcels as soon as he takes over. Holdings now consist of 5 parcels, totaling 3.8 ha, with a mix of Chenin, Pineau d’Aunis, and AOC Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame Cabernet Franc (the only grape permitted by the appellation).
Manu’s thoughtfulness and attention to detail extends from the vineyards to the cellar. From the more convivial and brighter Pétillant and the Pineau d’Aunis-focused reds, to the more cerebral and focused single-parcel Cabernet Francs and Chenin, he manages to imbue a sense of brightness, joy, and beautiful simplicity in each of his wines. He firmly believes that transparency comes from hard work in the vines, and the often excruciatingly low yields that come with ecologically sound farming. All fermentations are completed using indigenous yeasts, and when the wines do receive SO2, it never totals more than around 2.5g/hl.

Name of Domaine: Emmanuel Haget
Year Founded: 2017
Location: Puy-Notre-Dame, Loire
Total Holdings: 3.8 hectares
Bottles produced/year: 18,000
Number of Workers: 1
Grape Varieties: Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Pineau d’Aunis
Average Vine Age: 35 years
Farming Practices: Biodynamic, hand-harvesting.